Gala to Raise Funds for Service Animals
Written by Andrew-Rossi on March 12, 2019
Tickets are now on sale for a fundraiser that aims to puts service dogs and veterans together.
Northwest Battle Buddies is a nonprofit organization that provides specially trained service dogs to combat Veterans battling PTSD. They are hosting a “Freedom Gala” at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West on May 4th to honor Veterans and raise funds to support service dogs being trained in the Cody community.
According to organizer Jona Vanata, the vision for Northwest Battle Buddies is to gift a professionally trained service dog to every qualified combat Veteran battling PTSD, then support both the dog and the Veteran for life.
It is estimated that between 11 and 20% of the 2.7 million veterans from recent wars, along with 30% of Vietnam veterans, suffer from PTSD symptoms including anxiety, fear, severe depression, and other serious mental health conditions, as well as a heightened risk of suicide. Vanata says service animals have proven to combat the symptoms of PTSD.
Founded in 2012, Northwest Battle Buddies has successfully paired 77 veteran-canine teams and is now working toward gifting 48 service dogs to veterans in 2019. Tickets for the gala are available at northwestbattlebuddies.org.
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